


What if you fly?

by fxckwonderwall



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Australia, Alternate Universe - Australian Rules Football, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Angst, Anxiety, Blam, Fluff, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-22 15:33:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22418455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fxckwonderwall/pseuds/fxckwonderwall
Summary: An AU where Blaine and Sam both play AFL (which happens to be a pretty homophobic sport). Let’s follow their journey through training, moving in together, and falling in love.
Relationships: Blaine Anderson/Sam Evans
Comments: 13
Kudos: 31





	1. Chapter one

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Okay so a few things.  
> -Do people even still read Glee fics, let alone Blam? If so, hi and thankyou!!!  
> -I have recently rewatched Glee and wanted to do a story on Blam because I love them so much, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to write. I then read an article similar to this one https://10daily.com.au/entertainment/tv/a200115cgweb/only-a-matter-of-time-dale-thomas-talks-sexuality-in-afl-20200115 (an ex-AFL player discusses how there is yet to be an out AFL player. This inspired me to write an AU!  
> -AFL is Australian rules football. I won't go too into depth here but if you want to know the rules a quick google will do the trick. You don't really need any prior info about the game to read this story.  
> -I have no idea how long this will be. The first chapter is sort of fleshing out the information for further on in the story.  
> -It'll probably be a bit of a slow burn because I'm a sucker for that.  
> -Sorry in advance if I use an Aussie slang!!! You can let me know if there is something you don't understand and want explained further.  
> -This is not edited by anyone, as you can probably tell. Apologies.  
> -Sorry for rambling, if you like the story please kudos + comment it would mean a lot for me!!  
> -If you have any questions at all, about the story, AFL, lyf in Australia, whatev, feel free to hmu and ask away in the comments or whatever!  
> -Please enjoy fellow Blammers!!!!

This was it. Preseason was finally ready to start. Blaine had spent his entire break in the gym. Working harder and harder to maintain his health and fitness. This was going to be his year, and he was ready to grab any and all opportunities that came his way and pave the way for his career. 

Blaine swung his gym bag over his shoulder after he pulled it out of his boot, then he locked his car and made his way into the training centre. He was early, there were only a few cars in the carpark. 

It had been his debut season the year before. He had been drafted at number 23 three years ago, and had been selected by the Collingwood football club. After years of training and keeping up with the senior players of the club, he had been given his chance to play in front of a massive crowd at one of the biggest games of the home and away season. He did not disappoint, and the fans went crazy for him. Blaine kicked 3 goals in that game, and he didn't miss a game after that.

He worked harder after they were knocked out of the finals. It wasn't a nice feeling, losing. Blaine had always been competitive, but playing for the AFL premiership flag was something else. He was going to work hard, and they were going to win one day. 

Blaine bumbled up the steps of the club rooms and made his way into the entrance. He was 2 hours early before the first team meeting of the year. He made his way through the building until he reached the gym. He had already gone for his run earlier that morning, but he wanted to lift some weights before having to shower and prepare himself for meeting up with all his teammates. 

____________________________

After Blaine did a quick weight session and had his shower, he walked back through the building to see if anyone else had arrived yet. He wasn't super close with anyone, but they were all his friends. The club had established a good sense of teamwork. Even though he wasn't super close with many of them, he needed to suss out if anyone needed an extra roommate.

His old roommate Jack had been transferred to the Gold Coast, and he had just finished packing up and now he was gone. Blaine had money saved from when he worked during high school, and playing AFL football did pay pretty well, not to mention the mini sponsorship deal with Nike the last year, which meant he wasn't struggling to pay his bills, but having a roommate and someone to share the load with sure would be helpful. 

As he was turning the corner to head to the lounge he ran straight into his coach.

"Blaine!" The head coach of the Collingwood Football Club exclaimed. "How was your Christmas and new years?" 

"Hey Coach Beiste, it was really good thanks, how about you?" Blaine replied with a small smile. Coach was really enthusiastic, which made Blaine feel very included.

"Really good m'boy. Ready to get stuck into this year? It's going to be a big one for you, I can tell. Did you even rest over the break, or did you spend every minute in the gym?" Coach bellows.

Blaine grinned. "I worked hard but I did rest too. I want it to be a good year for us." 

"It will be. I have a good feeling. Go grab a coffee and I'll see you soon for the meeting. All the new boys will be in today. I can't wait to see our fresh crop of talent. The year of the Collingwood Magpies!" Coach exclaimed before moving along. 

Blaine made his way down to the mini cafeteria they had at the club rooms. He made himself a coffee, and plucked a banana and apple from the massive platter of fruit and sat himself down on one of the tables. The room was basically empty, apart from a few of the kitchen staff flitting about. He pulled out his book from his bag and began reading. 

After about 20 minutes of eating and reading, Blaine checked his watch. 9.45am. He packed up his stuff and noticed a few more of the players were in the café area, and he nodded his head at them. 

Then Blaine began making his way to where they had all their team meetings. It was a massive room with seats, couches, whiteboards and a massive TV screen where they would replay games to discuss strategies. There were a few people milling around, but no one was really sitting yet. Blaine went to the front of the room and sat in the middle of the second row and he waited. 

Blaine pulled out his phone as everyone, staff and players, started filing in.

"Hey Blaine," Noah 'Puck' Puckerman said, plopping himself down next to Blaine and holding his fist out.

"Hey man," Blaine replied, bumping his fist with Pucks. 

Blaine was so intimidated by Puck when he first joined the club. He was two years older, but he had a mohawk and a sleeve of tattoos, so Blaine was a bit weary of him at first. But, he was a really cool guy. He sort of took Blaine under his wing when he first began. Partnered up with him, showed him the ins and outs at playing at a professional level. Puck was probably his closest team mate. 

"You're looking big dude," Puck replied, referring to Blaine's obvious muscles. "Long summer of bulking up?"

"Yeah, it was a bit like that," Blaine stated. That was the second person to comment on his body today alone. All his hard work in the gym was paying off. "How about you? How was your summer?"

"Yeah y'know it was alright. Ready to get stuck into this year though," Puck said and Blaine hummed in agreement. 

Before Blaine knew it, Coach was at the front of the room, calling for everyone's attention. Everyone listened intently to what was said. It became apparent to everyone in the room that they all had similar goals for the year: win at all costs.

After a mini pep talk congratulating them on a tough year last year, the focus was only on the current year: 2020. "I would like to introduce everyone properly to our new recruits," Coach said and a group of 8 guys stood up at the front. Five of them were from the draft, and three had been recruited from elsewhere. 

Blaine realised, with a start, that the tall blonde standing at the front of the room had been a direct trade with Jack, Blaine's old roommate. Jack had gone from Melbourne to the Gold Coast, whilst the blonde, whose Blaine recalled his name as Sam had clearly come from the Gold Coast to Melbourne, if his tanned skin was any indication. 

The meeting went for well over an hour, and by the time they were done, it was almost 11.30. After Blaine's exercising that morning, he was hungry. The kitchen staff had put on a big spread for lunch, so Blaine and Puck made their way down to the cafeteria area, grabbed some food and sat down at the table. 

Others came and went, stopping for a quick hello and a quick catch up before joining others tables. 

"Hey Puckerman," Sam grinned and held out a hand for a handshake to Puck. 

"Evans, long time no see," Puck replied, taking Sam's hand and shaking it. "Blaine Anderson, this is Sam Evans. Sam, this is Blaine."

"Hey Blaine, nice to finally meet you. You had an awesome breakout season last year." Sam said, smiling widely. 

And, oh. Sam had seen him play? Blaine had a personal rule and he knew many other footballers followed it too; no watching other teams play. Unless they were studying a teams tactics or whatever, he did not want to watch others games. It may put him off or make him overthink things. 

But Sam commented that he had a good season. Does that mean he watched several games? Or that he listened to the media? Blaine didn't know much about Sam and his games, let alone if he had even played much last year. He came from the Gold Coast Suns though, and they weren't a very good team. If he had been traded for Jack, surely he was good. 

Whilst Blaine was pondering this quickly, he realised he hadn't replied. "Oh, thanks man. Yeah I was lucky I got to debut when I did. I hope this year brings us better luck though." He replied, trying not to blush.

Puck, unknowingly, came to the rescue. He clapped a hand on Sam's shoulder "We don't need luck. We recruited a very talented but injury prone tall defender," he said whilst Sam rolled his eyes. "We have a young but quick and good small forward," he continued, whilst nudging Blaine. Blaine smiled at him. "And, we have me. The highest goal kicker for the club last year. This year is going to be a cinch. We've got this lads." Puck finished, grinning.

"That's a bit of a naïve way of looking at it, mate." Sam said with a grin. "We have a lot of work to do."

Puck rolled his eyes, but had a smile on his face. "I know, I'm just messing with you Evans."

Blaine noticed that Sam and Puck were quite comfortable with each other. "Do you two know each other well?" He asked curiously.

"Sure do," Puck answered without hesitation. "We went to high school together. We got drafted together too. To different teams obviously. But now, look at where we are!" 

Sam grinned and reached over to ruffle Puck's lack of hair. "Who would have thought little Sam and Noah from grade 7 would be playing for Collingwood? Not me!"

They all chuckled at that, and settled into easy banter.

After they had finished eating and they had cleared their tables, Puck decided to show Sam around the club rooms. He dragged Blaine along too. The facilities at the club were second to none. The gyms, locker rooms, showers, kitchens, meeting rooms and lounge rooms were impeccable. Everything had been refurbished the year before, and Blaine loved this place. It was definitely his second home. Maybe even his first.

Sam drew in a breath. "Holy moly," he said. "This is so bloody nice. I'm so jealous you guys have had this luxury place to call work for a whole year!"

Puck laughed and punched him in the shoulder gently. "Well you better get used to it Evans. It's your home now too." He paused and then said, "speaking of homes, where are you living now man? Didn't you just move back down from the coast?"

"Yeah," Sam breathed out. "I'm staying with the parents at the moment. At least until I find myself a place close enough to here that won't break the bank."

"Hey," Puck said, realisation dawning on his face and turning to Blaine. "Aren't you looking for a roommate?"

"Yeah I am actually. Jack moved out like last week. It's definitely getting a little lonely being there by myself," Blaine replied, looking carefully at Sam. He didn't want Sam to feel pressured to move in with him so soon. They barely knew each other. He did really need a roommate as soon as possible though.

However, he should have had no worries, as Sam's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Really? That's awesome bro! Not that you've been lonely, but that you need a roommate. I've been putting off looking for an apartment for ages!" He exaggerated the 'ages' flinging his arms apart and peering down at Blaine with his green eyes.

Blaine smiled back at him. "You can come around and check out the apartment whenever you want. I'd be happy for you to move in."

_______________________________________

Sam took Blaine up on his offer. Straight after everyone departed the meeting, Sam came over to look at Blaine's apartment. Blaine drove his car to his place, with Sam following in his car behind him. Blaine's apartment was only a ten minute drive from the club rooms. 

Once they got there, Blaine led him up five flights of stairs to the top floor. "Oh sorry," Blaine said a little bit guiltily, realising they walked the stairs instead of taking the lift. "I'm so used to taking the stairs. I try to avoid using the lift as much as possible. The more exercise the better." 

Sam smiled in response. "Don't apologise, dude. I prefer taking the stairs too."

Blaine let out a little breath he had been holding, and opened the front door. Sam loved it straight away. 

It was a pretty big space, once you walked in and went though the hallway it led to a large lounge room and an even larger kitchen space. Blaine had two big couches in the living room with a big TV, his DVD player and PlayStation. 

The kitchen was so big that he had a dining table with four chairs around it, where he ate his meals. Blaine led Sam through all this space, and then took him past the kitchen where there was another hallway. He pointed to the first door, then opened it wide. 

"This is my room," he said. Thank god he had tidied it up a bit before. His bed was made and all his dirty clothes were in the hamper. Sam stepped into the room to have a look. "Wow, you're very tidy." Blaine smiled and nodded his head curtly. Then, Blaine led him down the hall to the next door. 

"This is the bathroom. Nothing special in here." He claimed. Sam glanced in and nodded.

Further down the hall was the second last room of the hallway. "Wow, this place is actually massive," Sam stated. "Let me guess, another bedroom?" 

Blaine nodded. "Yeah, this would be yours, should you choose to take it." He swung open the door to the empty room. Sam walked in and did a full circle of the room. 

"Awesome. So when can I move in?"

Blaine spluttered a bit at that. "You really want to move in? You haven't seen the rest of the place yet!" 

"So? What I've seen so far is perfect. I love my family to bits, but I have to get out of there as soon as possible. They're driving me crazy." He used his finger to draw circles next to his head to signal the crazy. Blaine smiled and said "well I can text the landlord to let him know so you can sign a contract and then you can move in whenever you like."

Sam grinned, possibly the brightest smile Blaine had seen of him yet. "Cool. Let me know what he says."

Blaine pulled his phone out of his jeans pocket and swiped until his text messages popped up. He sent a quick text then slid the phone back into his pocket. Then he finished giving his tour of the rest of the apartment. He showed Sam the study, the laundry and led him out the back and down the back five flights of stairs to the communal back yard. It was just a nice courtyard type area, with grass and picnic tables and chairs, purely for the use of the tenants. 

Blaine then led Sam into the first ground communal area, which had a mini gym and quite a large swimming pool. "This is sick!" Sam exclaimed. "You didn't mention that it had a pool!" Blaine shrugged his shoulders and they left the same way they came in and went back up the stairs. Once in the apartment, Blaine finally showed him the balcony that overlooked the better part of the whole of Richmond. 

"Wow. This place is really nice. Are you sure you want me moving in and cramping your style?" Sam asked, genuinely a bit concerned. Blaine gaped at him. 

"I told you I was lonely," he started. "This place is too big for one person. I definitely need a roommate." His voice lowered. He was about to say something he'd regret like "Or even a friend would be nice." But he stopped himself. He didn't want Sam to feel sorry for him. Then he would really seem lonely, and he didn't want to look desperate in front of someone like Sam. Sam probably had lots of friends. He was just that type of person.

Sam must have seen something in his face, or even by the way his voice lowered, because he plastered a big smile on his face and clapped his hand on Blaine's shoulder and kept it there. "Not a worry then! I shall be your new roommate." He held his other hand out as if to get a handshake from Blaine. Blaine complied, slipping his hand into Sam's and they shook. "Pleasure to meet you mate, glad we sorted this out quickly." 

Blaine smiled a timid smile in reply. His phone buzzed in his pocket. He slipped it out and Sam took his hand off Blaine's shoulder. 

"The landlord said he can bring a new contract over tomorrow for you to sign. After that, you can move in whenever you want." Blaine read from his phone.

"Awesome! Sounds like a plan. Better get my stuff ready to go and let my family know I will be parting ways with them once more." Sam states. He seems kind of sad, but more excited. 

"When do you want to move in all your stuff? I can give you a hand if you need." Blaine offered.

"Oh, would tomorrow be okay or is that too soon?" Sam replied.

"No, no, tomorrow is fine. Here, give me your number," Blaine held out his phone for Sam to take. "I'll shoot you a text when the contract has been delivered here so you can sign it." 

Sam takes the phone from Blaine and punches in his number.

"Awesome." Sam says. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?"

They begin to make their way off the balcony and back into the apartment. 

"Yeah. For sure." Blaine said, leading the way through the apartment and back to the front door.

"I better go break the news to my family. See you tomorrow Blaine." Sam says, quickly throwing his arm around Blaine's shoulders and giving him a quick squeeze. Then he was out the door, waving as he walked down the stairs and showed himself out. 

It took five minutes for Blaine to realise his breath had hitched, and the front door was still open. He shut it gently and tried to calm down his rapid heartbeat. Then, he went to the kitchen to start preparing something for a late lunch/early dinner.

By the time he was ready to eat, his heart was still thumping fast. "What the hell has gotten into me?" Blaine thought.

___________________________________________________

Blaine woke with a start. It took him a couple of seconds to gather his surroundings, then to look for the source that woke him. His alarm was blaring on his phone which had been knocked onto the floor. Blaine groaned and with his eyes closed, he reached down blindly to try and gather his phone. Once in his grip, he pulled it back up to his face and cracked one eye open to snooze the sound. 

Blaine flung the phone onto the other side of the bed and he sat up. He rubbed his eyes then pulled himself out of bed and stumbled over to his wardrobe, where he pulled out and tugged on some clothes ready for his run.

Running the streets of Melbourne at 5am really was something else. Blaine had always been an early bird, ever since he was a kid. He had grown up in the countryside, working on his family's farm from when he was a young boy until he was 18 and moving out of home to pursue his dream. His body was used to the early mornings by now. 

As his feet pounded against the pavement, with music blearing through his headphones, Blaine contemplated his life now. He was happy, he was healthy. He was thriving. And this year was his for the taking.

Blaine kept running and soon enough he ended up on St Kilda beach. He slowed down and walked onto the sand and went and sat on the sand, about halfway between the footpath and the ocean. The breeze was really nice on Blaine's face.

There was not many people around on a Saturday morning at 5.45am. He knew that later in the day the beach would be packed with people. Summer was like that in Melbourne. Three years living here and Blaine still was not used to the hustle and bustle of the busy city. There was always people everywhere. Which is why he took opportunities like now, when it was peaceful and quiet, and he grasped it and made the most of it. 

Blaine had been sitting for about twenty minutes and he had well and truly cooled down when some construction work started across the road. It was loud, and it shook Blaine out of his daydream. He rose to his feet, brushed off the sand and stretched out a little before beginning his run back home.

Blaine turned into his apartment and block and took the stairs two at a time. He rushed inside, grabbed his boxing gloves and a towel that he kept near the front door, and relocked his door. Then he made his way down to the communal gym. He had a good boxing session to himself. 

Not many people used the gym or swimming pool. There was also a sauna that went widely unused. Blaine never saw anyone else down there. He never saw anyone around. He could be the only one in the building and he would be none the wiser. However, he liked it like that. It's not that he hated people, he just liked to be alone. He liked to do things on his own terms, and usually by himself. For this reason was the reason he thought he wouldn't fit into AFL. It was predominantly team-based. But Blaine made it work. It helped that he had Puck as a friend.

After Blaine's swim, he hopped in the sauna for a quick extra sweat session. He was a little tender from the extra exercise he had pushed himself to do, but it felt good.

Blaine went upstairs and had a shower, washed his hair and then got dressed. He was in the middle of breakfast when there was a knock on the door.

Blaine checked his watch. It was just past 8am. He stumbled towards the door and flung it open. It was his landlord.

"Good morning Blaine," Trevor said. "How are you today?"

Trevor was older, Blaine would say he was in his 60's. He was a really good landlord and he liked Blaine a lot, being a Collingwood supporter. They got along well, whenever they were both free they would have coffee at Blaine's and discuss football. Trevor knew that Blaine was always up early in the morning.

"Morning Trevor, I'm good thanks," Blaine replied, opening the door wider. "Come on in." 

"That's okay, thanks Blaine. I'm just popping in that paperwork for the new tenant. Will you pass it on to him and back to me once it has been signed?" Trevor asked handing him the contract.

"Yes, yes of course. Thank you for getting it to us straight away." Blaine said, taking the paperwork and clutching it in his hands.

"Anytime my boy. Who's moving in anyhow? Is it someone in Collingwood?" Trevor asked.

"Yeah, he's moved down from Queensland. Sam Evans," Blaine answered.

"Oh my! He is very good. He was originally from here, yes? He had a knee injury last year?" Trevor questioned.

Blaine had googled Sam last night whilst he was eating dinner, so he knew what Puck meant when he called Sam 'injury prone.' He had been out for most of last year due to being severely injured twice within two games. Blaine may or may not have watched an interview that the Collingwood social media team had put on their Instagram, interviewing Sam about his move back down to Melbourne.

Sam had said that he was fully recovered and he was fit and healthy and he was geared up and ready to go for this season. 

"Yeah, that's him." Blaine answered softly.

"It will be good for you to have a friend to live with you again. Okay! I best be going. Send me a message when you are ready to return the paperwork to me and I will collect and Sam can then move in. Have a good day Blaine." Trevor rushed out.

"You too, Trevor. T-thank you." Blaine called out as Trevor had already turned to walk down the stairs. 

_____________________________

"Are you serious? This screw definitely goes here!" 

"No way. Did you even read the instructions?"

"No. I didn't think we would need instructions to be honest. Thought we could y'know, wing it."

Blaine blinked at Sam. Sam grinned sheepishly at him in response.

"Sam, everything is going to fall apart if we don't do this properly." Blaine said slowly.

Sam shrugged in response. "What's the worse that could happen?"

"Um, well if we put the wrong screw in and then you put all of your stuff in it and it collapses? That sounds pretty bad." Blaine retorted, falling easily into their banter. It was like they had been friends for years, not a few days.

As soon as Trevor had left the apartment Blaine had sent a text to Sam telling him the paperwork was ready whenever he was. Sam had replied instantly saying he was on his way over. Sam had helped himself to some breakfast whilst Blaine finished his own, Sam paying attention to the contract. Once it had been read, he signed it. Blaine texted Trevor to let him know that it was signed and Trevor said he would swing by to pick it up soon.

After he picked it up Sam had begged Blaine to go to IKEA with him to pick up some stuff, claiming he didn't want to go by himself. Blaine was confused at why he needed new stuff, because didn't he live somewhere before and therefore would already have a bedframe and drawers? When he asked, Sam told him that he had sold his stuff before he moved back down, so he wouldn't have to travel with the bulky items. 

Nevertheless, Sam managed to convince Blaine to accompany him to IKEA. They had ended up with a heap of stuff, a bedframe, two bedside tables and a chest of drawers. They had managed to fit it into Sam's dads ute that he had driven, luckily, because if they had taken Sam or Blaine's car he knew it would not have fit. It was late afternoon when they arrived back at the apartment, where they had dropped the massive boxes off.

They had agreed that they leave the boxes there, and Sam would go home and collect his stuff and bring it around in the morning. They would begin constructing everything the next day, when Sam would officially be moved in.

That had brought them to their current positions, squashed in Sam's new room, the bed frame done, with no mattress sitting atop it. He didn't have a mattress yet. They had set the bed frame up pretty quickly, but the chest of drawers had taken them two hours already. And they still weren't anywhere near done. 

"Why are all the instructions in like, German or something?" Sam asked, scrunching his face up at the instructions he finally had picked up.

"Swedish, Sam, because IKEA was founded there." Blaine retorted, frowning at the screws again.

"Well, you learn something new everyday. I still have no idea what we're doing though." Sam replied, frowning.

Sam hopped up after trying and failing to read the instructions, whilst Blaine was still sorting the screws into different piles. "Do you want anything?" Sam asked, nodding his head towards the kitchen.

Blaine hopped to his feet too and they set off towards the kitchen. They both grabbed a glass of water and allowed themselves a ten minute break. 

After they had a breather, Sam started lugging his stuff from the living room into his room. He actually had a fair bit of stuff, which is why he had bought the chest of drawers. The bedrooms each had a built in closet, but it was quite small. It definitely would not fit all of Sam's stuff in there.

He placed all his boxes on the bed frame. 

"When are you going to get a mattress?" Blaine asked, frowning at the empty bed. 

"I haven't really thought about that yet." Sam said, scratching the back of his neck. 

"I mean, you probably need to get it today. Unless you plan on staying at your parents again tonight..." Blaine trailed off. Sam nodded. 

"I might go mattress shopping tomorrow. Do you mind if I stay on the couch tonight?" Sam asked.

"No of course I don't mind. This is your place too now. But if you would be comfier in a bed you can always go to your parents house and come back tomorrow?" It came out like a question.

"If you don't want me here you could just say so," Sam smirked at him.

"No, that's not what I meant," Blaine replied shaking his head.

"I know, Blaine, I'm just messing with you. There's no point in me going home for a bed though, as I would have to stay on a couch there too. All my stuff is here now anyway. I may as well sleep on this couch."

Blaine nodded then realised what Sam had said. "Wait, you stayed on a couch at your parents?"

"Yeah. I used to have a bed when I lived there obviously, before the Gold Coast, but they sold it when I moved out. Which is fine, y'know, because I wasn't living there anymore." Sam said and Blaine nodded again in understanding.

Sam clapped his hands together, startling Blaine a little bit. "Right! So let's get this show on the road and finish these stupid chest of drawers."

"If you want I can finish the drawers and you can start on the bedside tables?" Blaine offered. "I think I've got these instructions down pat."

"Okay, if you say so Mr. I-Speak-Swedish." Sam said and reached for the box with the first bedside table. Blaine laughed and begun constructing the chest of drawers.

Another three hours later and the chest of drawers and both bedside tables were done and the boys were quite tired. 

"Finally! Completion! We have managed the impossible!" Sam bellowed, leaning over to high five Blaine. Blaine laughed and clapped his hand against Sam's briefly. 

"Want to order in something for dinner and just have a chilled first night in? We could watch a movie or something." Blaine asked, wiping his sweaty hands on his shorts.

Sam nodded. "Sounds good to me."

"I might have a quick shower first though," Blaine continued.

"Yeah, yeah you go ahead. I'll have one after you." Sam replied gathering all of the empty boxes.

Blaine cleared from the room and ducked into his room to grab his pyjamas. It was still early but not too early to put his pyjamas on. 

After he showered he retreated back to his room for a little bit. He checked his phone for the first proper time that day. As he heard the shower turn on for Sam's shower, he scrolled through Instagram. Nothing really caught his attention though so he ditched his phone and made his way to the living room where he switched the TV on.

The evening news was on, so Blaine settled into the couch and watched. Not long later, Sam flopped down next to him, phone in hand. 

"Watcha want for dinner?" Sam asked, turning his phone so Blaine could see. They scrolled through Uber eats until deciding on what they wanted. Sam placed the order.

"What's your bank details? I'll transfer my half." Blaine asked.

"Don't even worry dude. My shout." Sam replied, shutting his phone off.

"Sam."

"Blaine."

"Sam, I feel bad. You don't have to pay for my dinn-" Blaine started.

"It's fine bro. You helped me so much yesterday and today. You set up those stupid chest of drawers all by yourself. This is my thank you." Sam replied. "I still don't know how you did that."

Blaine let out a little chuckle. "Are you sure?"

"Positive." Sam nodded.

"But like really sure? Because we ordered a lot of food." Blaine asked again.

"Yeah, I'm really sure. If you're so hung up on it, you can get the next take out we get. I have a feeling we'll probably do this often." Sam responded.

"Deal." Blaine nodded. "But we probably shouldn't get too used to it. We need to be eating healthy during the season."

Sam rolled his eyes, but he was grinning widely. "Yes, mother." 

Blaine gave him a small smile back. 

_______________________________________________________

"Man I am so full!" Sam exclaimed, flopping onto the couch. He had grabbed his blankets and pillows and placed them on the couch already, so after they ate their dinner, they were ready to watch a movie. Blaine placed himself gracefully next to Sam and Sam flung the blankets over the two of them, then offered Blaine a pillow. Blaine took the pillow and their hands brushed. Blaine quickly pulled away and put the pillow behind his head, looking straight ahead towards the TV. He felt Sam's eyes on him for a minute.

"So, what movie do you want to watch?" Sam asked slowly, reaching over for the PlayStation controller and flicking the news over to Netflix.

Blaine shrugged. "Anything. I don't really have a preference." 

Sam skimmed through some of the lists until he landed on the Avengers.

"Do you like the Avengers?" Sam asked, his finger hovering over the play button.

Blaine nodded a bit too quickly. "Yeah, of course I do. Who doesn't?"

Sam nudged him laughing and clicked play. "Oh, so you're a proper nerd are you?"

Blaine flushed a bit. "Eh, I wouldn't say th-"

"Dude, messing with you again. You need to learn to not take me so seriously. I'm a proper nerd too." Sam says, wriggling his fingers at Blaine.

"You are?" Blaine asked.

Sam nodded. "Sure am. Does this mean we can geek out together?"

Blaine stared at him for a second, then quietly replied, "yeah, I guess we can."

The movie started then, and they were both quiet for the whole movie. That surprised Blaine. He didn't talk during movies but he assumed Sam would be someone who spoke during movies, whether it was to commentate or just make comments about the acting.

Once the movie finished, it automatically put on the next one. Too comfy to move, the boys continued watching without saying anything.

_________________________________________

Blaine woke up with a start. Glancing around, he noticed the credits for a movie were playing. His head was also resting on something warm. He looked up to realise he was lying on Sam's shoulder! He pulled his head back then jerked his body back.

"Oh my goodness!" He exclaimed. "I'm so sorry Sam."

Sam laughed and then realised that Blaine was quite distressed. He reached out and wrapped his fingers around Blaine's wrist. "Dude, it's fine, you only fell asleep like twenty minutes ago. You look pretty tired man."

Blaine let out a breath he had been holding, and immediately stood up, and Sam let go of his grip on Blaine's arm. "I didn't mean to fall asleep on your shoulder. Sorry again. I better head to bed though. I'm quite tired." 

"Yeah, yeah, no stress dude. G'night." Sam replied wearily. He was rearranging the pillows and blankets ready for him to sleep. He barely looked at Blaine.

Blaine gave an awkward wave and padded to the bathroom. He quickly brushed his teeth and then moved to his room, shut the door and then hopped into bed. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and willed his heart to stop beating so fast. Was Sam annoyed that he had fallen asleep on him? He didn't mean to! Why wouldn't Sam look at Blaine in the eye? 

He would think about that tomorrow. For now though, he was pretty exhausted. He never usually stayed up this late, and if we was going to get up early like normal, he needed to sleep now. So, he closed his eyes and drifted off.


	2. Chapter two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blaine and Sam get closer and we learn a tiny bit about Blaine's life prior to being in the AFL.

Blaine was on the way back from his run. He had completed his usual run to the ocean at St Kilda beach, and walking back home, he decided to stop at the local corner café. He picked up two coffees, one for him and one for Sam. He had learnt Sam's coffee order pretty quickly, considering they'd been living together for a while now. 

It was a Saturday morning, several weeks after Sam had officially moved in. Sam was already getting used to Blaine's early mornings, though he himself didn't get up until a bit later.

On the Monday, the day after Blaine had accidentally fallen asleep on Sam's shoulder, Blaine had awoken with a start. He decided to skip his run that day and had a little sleep in. He listened to his body, so he knew he was extra tired.

When he eventually had gotten up, Sam was already up and preparing breakfast... for the both of them.

"Morning Blaine! How'd you sleep?" Sam had asked in a cheerful tone.

"I, um, yeah I slept well thanks," Blaine stammered out a response. Then after a beat, he continued. "How about you?"

"Yeah I slept good too. That couch is surprisingly more comfortable than I thought it would be." Sam replied, scrambling some eggs in the pan.

Blaine had made himself some coffee while they chatted easily. Things were really easy with Sam, Blaine thought. He had thought it may have been a bit awkward after he sort of snapped at Sam the previous night, but Sam had pretended like nothing had happened. Blaine was grateful for that.

Their friendship was really easy. They liked similar foods and movies, they bantered like there was no tomorrow, and they just genuinely got along well. It surprised Blaine. Pleasantly. 

It also bought Blaine back to today, where he trudged up the stairs to the apartment, both of their coffees in hand. 

When he unlocked the door and let himself in, the apartment was still.

Blaine checked his watch. It was 8am. Usually Sam was up by now.

Blaine padded down the hallway, stopping outside Sam's room. He lifted a hand to daintily knock. 

"Sam?" Blaine called softly. "Are you awake?"

After a couple of seconds with no response, Blaine was about to walk away, when he heard a small grunt and then a crash. 

The door flung open and a shirtless Sam was standing before him, rubbing his eyes with the back of his fist, then running a hand through his blonde locks.

"Mornin'," he mumbled. "I think I slept in by accident."

Blaine grinned, keeping his eyes on Sam's face. "Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you but I bought coffee home." He handed over Sam's cup.

"Coffee is exactly what I need. Thanks Blainey." Sam smiled widely, taking the cup from Blaine's hand and knocking their fingers together. 

Blaine smiled a small smile back. "I'm gonna go take a quick shower."

"Yeah, you should. You stink." Sam retorts.

Blaine snorts, then sniffs the air. "Do I actually?" 

"Nah, I'm just joking. Again."

Blaine rolls his eyes, but he is smiling as he ducks into his own room to gather some clothes to wear. 

____________________________________________

Blaine and Sam had a slow weekend. The coming week was when proper training started at footy, so they wanted to be fully rested in preparation.

They had breakfast together that morning and spent the rest of the morning on the couch watching random stuff on the TV.

By the time the afternoon rolled around, Puck came to visit to see the new set up. Puck had visited Blaine before, but it was rare, and it was also when Blaine had his previous house-mate Jack there. 

The three of them mucked around in the afternoon, just enjoying each other's company.

_____________________________________________

Blaine groaned as his alarm went off. He silenced it, and hopped out of bed. 

He pulled on his clothes and runners, and made his way out of his room. 

What surprised him was that Sam was waiting for him, leaning against the bench in his running clothes. 

"Mind if I join you?" He asked, hopeful.

"No, no, of course I don't mind." Blaine replied. "I didn't realise you were up already."

"I didn't know exactly what time you got up, so I got up extra early to make sure I didn't miss you," Sam said sheepishly. 

Blaine let out a little laugh. "My alarm usually goes off at 4:45am," he says and begins to walk towards the front door. Sam follows. Blaine grabs the house keys out of the bowl by the door and ushers Sam out.

"Every day? Dude, how do you do it?" Sam asks in a fake-horror as Blaine locks the door and they head to the stairs together. 

Blaine laughs. "I'm used to it now. I've always gotten up early." 

When Sam looks at him curiously, Blaine continues, "I grew up on a farm. Lot's of early morning work."

"Ahhh yes," Sam nods in understanding. "I wish I was more of a morning person. You're lucky to be taught that from a young age."

Blaine smiles a tight, quite insincere smile and nods.

Blaine leads the way, following his usual route. Sam follows, barely even a step behind. They run in silence, but it's nice.

When the beach is in sight, Blaine mutters, "I'll race you to the beach." He paused for a second to give Sam a second to gather himself, then he bolted towards the ocean. He felt Sam hot at his heels. 

Blaine won though. He even gloated about it. Just a little bit.

_____________________________________________________

Blaine and Sam were running late to training. They had lost track of time at the beach, and before they knew it, it was almost time to leave home. But, they were still halfway between the apartment and the beach. 

They were sprinting home, and Blaine let out a burst of uncontrollable laughter.

Blaine felt Sam's eyes on him. "I'm glad this is funny to you." He said in a breathless, incredulous tone.

"Sorry," Blaine replied in an equally breathless tone, as they pulled up to their building. "I haven't done anything this thrilling in a while."

Sam lightly punched his arm. "That's because ya boring."

Blaine scrunched his face up at him.

Even though they were about to go to training to most likely work out, Blaine still wanted to shower before they left. Sam did too. But since they were running out of time, they had to be quick. 

Sam gathered his stuff and slipped out the back door to the gym downstairs, which was luckily equipped with a small locker room, where he showered, whilst Blaine used the shower in their bathroom. 

They both cleaned themselves in record time, and were dressed in their training uniforms ready to go. They bounded down the stairs, two at a time, after Blaine locked the door and hopped into Sam's car. 

They would usually walk, but there was no time at all. Sam definitely did not speed to get there.

Once parked, they rushed inside, put their stuff in their respective lockers and went to meet the group on the oval. Luckily, there were a few boys and coaches loitering around, so they weren't too late.

This wasn't their first time arriving at the facilities together. They had gone in everyday last week, to mingle with other new team members, and get a feel for their training plans for the upcoming year. This was their first official training session though.

"Nice of you to join us, lads," Puck murmured, knocking his shoulder into Blaine's lightly. Blaine smiled back. 

"Did we miss anything?" He asked, focusing his attention on Coach at the front.

"Nah, nothing important. We're going to be pushed hard though. Be prepared." Puck replied.

He was right, they were pushed hard.

They were split into three groups; the defence, the attack and the midfield. 

Sam clapped both Puck and Blaine on the back then jogged off to the defence group. Luckily, Blaine had Puck in his group, so they partnered up for the warm ups.

After close to two hours of vigorous exercise, the boys were allowed to go inside and shower up. Blaine was absolutely knackered. But he was fit, and if he looked and felt exhausted, everyone else looked and probably felt, a hundred times worse. 

Blaine took his time in the locker room. Everyone else was busy showering, and before he did, he wanted to properly warm down. He wandered down to the gym for a while, just doing some light stretches.

One of the goal kicking coaches came and found him, and they discussed a couple of things that Blaine had done well at, and a couple of things he could work on for the upcoming week. Blaine was grateful for the feedback.

Once they were done he made his way to the showers. To his relief, it was empty. He grabbed his towel, and showered up.

When he was done, he went downstairs to the café area, grabbed some lunch and looked for a place to sit. Sam caught his eye and waved him over. Blaine manoeuvred his way in the direction of where Sam, Puck and a couple other guys were sitting.

Once seated, Blaine dug into his food. Considering himself and Sam were late that day, they hadn't eaten breakfast. So he was starving. The other guys had heaped plates also.

"Where'd you run off to?" Sam asked Blaine quietly when the other guys were in the middle of a conversion.

"Oh, I was just doing some stretches to warm down a bit more." Blaine started. "Then our goal kicking coach, Brett, found me, and we just went over stuff I could improve on this week."

Sam nodded and bit into his second sandwich. "Nice. How'd you go this morning?"

"Yeah, they pushed us pretty hard. I felt unfit." Blaine replied. "How about you guys?"

"Pft, if you felt unfit then there was no hope for the rest of us." Sam stated, blowing a piece of his fringe out of his eyes. "Not gonna lie, it was hard. They want us so fit for round one."

_______________________________________________________

After they had eaten, there was another major meeting with the entire team, coaches and all staff. After that, the players once again, split into the three major groups. Pouting, Sam waved to Blaine as he made his way to the other defenders.

The rest of the day went pretty fast. It was mainly finalising their game plans, and then they had to do a photo shoot for the social media platforms.

It would take too long to do all of the players in one day, so they started with the midfielders and allowed everyone else to go home.

_______________________________________________________

Walking through their front door, the boys were absolutely stuffed. Since they had been up since 4.45am, done two major workouts and spent the rest of the day having to concentrate hard, they were exhausted. And hungry.

"How about we order in tonight?" Sam asked. "I don't know about you, but I'm too tired to cook."

Apart from the first night, they hadn't ordered in again. The plan was to take in turns to cook, but usually they both helped out each night. Since it had been a long day, Blaine agreed with Sam.

"Sounds good to me." Blaine replied. "I'm pretty hungry now."

Sam nodded in agreement. "Me too. Want to order now and have it early?"

"Yup," Blaine replied, popping the 'p' and whipping out his phone.

Once they decided what they wanted to eat, Blaine placed the order. Sam offered to pay his share, hoping Blaine had forgotten about last time.

He didn't.

"Sam, you're not paying half. You paid last time!" Blaine exclaimed, ignoring the way he felt his cheeks heat up ever so slightly.

"C'mon Blaine, that was a thank you present. Just let me play half." Sam replied in a whiny tone. 

They were sitting on the couch, after having gotten changed into some comfort clothes. Blaine rolled his eyes. 

"You're not paying, and that's that." Blaine stated firmly, ignoring how much he felt like this was a date.

Why would he think that? He scolds himself. It's just bloody dinner. With your roommate. 

Before he could overthink anything, and he still felt Sam's eyes on him, Blaine reached forward, grabbed the remote and switched the TV on. 

Sam was still watching him carefully, before he let out a small sigh and grabbed the blanket that was on the side of the couch and spread it over the both of them.

After a little while, Blaine's phone buzzed to let him know that the food was here, out the front. 

"I'll go get it, be right back," Sam offered, pulling on some shoes at the front door and slipping out. 

Blaine grabbed the pillow next to him, put his face in it and screamed. Why did Sam always watch him so carefully? Did he know something Blaine didn't? Or did Blaine just have something on his face? And why did he always feel so flustered around Sam? A million questions went through Blaine's head, but instead of thinking about them some more, he put the pillow down, straightened the blanket out that was still on him and sat up properly, just as Sam burst through the door.

They ate mostly in silence, after Sam had brought Netflix up, they hovered over what to watch.

"Have you seen Brooklyn Nine-Nine?" Sam asked, with a mouth full of rice.

Blaine shook his head. "I haven't really made time for any TV shows lately." 

Sam looked at him in disbelief. "Well, we have to watch this then. Jake Peralta is my idol."

Blaine smiled as Sam clicked on the show and they began to watch.

Three and a half hours later it was 9.30pm and they were about halfway through the first season. And it was good. Blaine was actually laughing out loud at some of the jokes. Just as an episode finished, Sam paused it before the next one could start. Blaine whined in protest, wanting to keep watching.

"C'mon dude, I know it's good, but you look like you're going to fall asleep there. We can continue it tomorrow." Sam said, turning off the TV and prying the blanket off of Blaine, folding it up and placing it back where it was. They had already gathered all of their rubbish and put it in the bin.

Sam went over to ensure the front door was locked, and then proceeded to drag a sleepy Blaine down the hallway. They brushed their teeth in unison, both opting not to have a shower that night considering they had already had two that day already. 

After they were done brushing their teeth, Sam lightly grabbed Blaine's arm and dragged him into his room. "Is your alarm set for the morning?" Sam asked Blaine.

"Mhmm." Blaine replied. "4:45am. Are you coming for a run?"

"Sure am. See you in the morning sleepyhead." Sam said, ruffling his hair and making sure Blaine was tucked in properly, then he went and shut off the light and then the door. He was pretty sure Blaine was already asleep before he even left the room.

He padded further down the hallway to his own room, flicking off the hallway switch along the way. He made sure his alarm was set also, then crawled into bed and sighed. Loudly.

There was something about Blaine that he couldn't quite wrap his head around. They just got on so well, so quickly, but he had a feeling Blaine felt a little uneasy around him. Sam went to sleep, determined to make Blaine 100% comfortable around him.

____________________________________________

The morning was almost exactly the same as the previous day, Sam getting up first and waiting for Blaine in the kitchen area. Blaine, once again, looked surprised to see him there, but he didn't say anything, just gave him a small smile.

They timed their run better this time, getting home with plenty of time to each shower and eat a proper nutritious breakfast. 

They walked to training, prepared for a day of photo shoots. And that's what they got.

They had to do lot's of poses in both their game day uniform and their away uniform. Silly little videos saying, "Go the Pies!" or "This is our year." Other videos include kicking a football gently, handballing to the assistants.

Sam knew he wasn't an ugly man. As a teenager, he had been approached by various brands, thus starting his teen-modelling career. Basically, he wasn't shy in front of the camera.

So when he had to do these videos and photos, he knew how to work it. And he did.

He had already been posted on both the Collingwood Facebook and Instagram pages, with fans going slightly crazy for him.

Sam knew he was charming, so he used it to his advantage, throwing winks and smiles at the camera. And the social media team ate it up.

He knew these pictures and videos would be used throughout the year at games and as advertising, especially if the fans had already taken a liking to him, so he exaggerated his movements, hoping to quickly become a fan favourite.

He had been shooting with the defenders all morning, so when it was time for lunch, he slipped away from the group and found where Puck and Blaine were already sitting. They were already eating at the table they usually sat at, surrounded by a group of guys, with Puck loudly telling some story to the rest of the table. Blaine was sitting quietly by his side, Sam observed. He slipped into the empty seat next to Blaine. "Is anyone sitting here?" He murmured quietly. 

Blaine's head turned pretty quickly, from Puck's story, and once he was focused on Sam, he visibly relaxed and smiled. "Nah," he said in an equally quiet tone. "How was your morning?"

"Yeah, good. We've been filming the whole morning. They needed a lot of content," Sam replied, then biting into his sandwich.

"Yeah same. I'm already sick of doing interviews." Blaine said, rolling his eyes in a playful tone. "And I'm sick of smiling for the camera."

Sam laughed. "Yeah, you don't seem like one who loves being in front of the camera."

"Am I that obvious?" Blaine asked sarcastically. 

Sam laughed and he studied Blaine's eyes, lips and cheeks, then murmured. "Kind of."

Blaine, not liking the attention on him, flushed a bit, then turned back to the conversation Puck was orchestrating. 

Sam continued to eat his lunch whilst he was listening, but also keeping tabs on Blaine's movements. Their shoulders would lightly brush every time either of them moves slightly.

Sam thought about it intently. At times, Blaine seemed uncomfortable with certain things, like touch. He would flinch being near someone, never touching anyone directly if he could help it. But last night, he was sleepy and comfortable. He even let Sam tuck him in. And now, his shoulder was lightly pressed against Sam's.

It made Sam happy that Blaine was warming up to him. In the beginning, it took him a little while to realise that Blaine wasn't acting standoffish towards Sam, nor did he hate Sam, but that was just his personality to everyone. Except Puck. And now sort of except Sam too.

Sam didn't really understand Puck and Blaine's friendship at first. He had quizzed Puck after he had first moved in with Blaine.

"Bro, you need to chill. Blaine's my bro. He's just a shy kid," Puck had attempted to explain.

"I just get the feeling he doesn't really like me," Sam had voiced his concerns.

"Trust me, I thought that at the start too. He is just genuinely shy. He will warm up to you," Puck had said slowly. "I literally forced myself into his life. You just need to be his friend. Hang out with him. He just needs to learn to trust you. Before you know it, you'll be best friends. I promise."

So that conversation kick started his mission to become Blaine's best friend. Sam just genuinely wanted the dude to be comfortable in his own home, and obviously around Sam.

And it was working. Blaine had really warmed up to him.

He was literally sitting with his shoulder pressed against Sam's. He wouldn't have done that at all a month ago. Hell, he probably wouldn't have even spoken to Sam had he not forced himself into Blaine's apartment, and life.

Sam was snapped back to reality when the rest of the team began getting up and leaving the cafeteria area. They were going back to their original groups to take some more photos and do some in-depth interviews.

Before parting ways with Puck and Blaine, Sam held his fist out towards Blaine and Blaine smiled a small smile. Then he knocked his knuckles against Sam's. After a minute, he turned from Blaine to Puck to fist bump him too. Puck was looking at Sam weirdly, but he also knocked his knuckles against Sam's. 

Then Puck slung an arm around Blaine and led them off towards the upstairs meeting room, chatting loudly. Sam wandered towards the room he was in previously, and the social media team recorded a couple of interviews that would be put in the records for the games.

However, Sam couldn't quite concentrate. It was about 2pm, and he was quite tired and restless. Considering they hadn't done any physical training that day, it had all been meetings and photoshoots, it was ironic that Sam was tired from sitting around rather than running around.

But he actually preferred to be running and working on his fitness.

Once they had finished up Sam's last couple of questions, they dismissed him and said he could go home for the day. He went to the locker room to collect his stuff, and there was a few of the boys milling about. 

Not knowing where exactly Blaine and Puck were working, he texted Blaine.

Sam: R u done for the day?

As he was picking up his stuff and shoving it all into his duffel bag, his phone buzzed.

Blaine: Not yet! Might be here for a while. Meet u at home?

Sam: Kk. See u later.

Sam was grateful for the beautiful afternoon. It was sunny with a light breeze. He was happy to be walking home and finally getting some fresh air after being cooped up all day inside. 

Considering his restlessness, once he got home he couldn't relax. So he changed into his gym clothes and went downstairs to the gym for a workout. Even though they had run this morning, Sam just had this energy he needed to get out.

After a solid session, he stripped down to the speedo he was wearing underneath his exercise shorts and made his way to the pool where he dived in. He spent a fair bit of time just floating around and treading water, just relaxing his muscles after working them quite hard.

As he was about to get out of the water he felt his watch vibrate. Blaine was calling him.

Sam hopped out of the pool and grabbed his towel and wiped his hands dry. Then, he grabbed his phone to answer the call. 

"Hey," he said, clearing his throat slightly.

"Hey. Where did you get to?" Blaine replied.

"I'm just finishing up in the gym. I'll be up in a second. Are you home?" Sam said, propping his phone between his ear and his shoulder and gathering his clothes with his hands. He wrapped the towel around his waist and slipped out of the pool and gym area. 

"Yeah, yeah, I am," Blaine said.

"Well, I'll see you in a sec because I'm nearly back." Sam said hanging up.

He opened up the door and made his way through the back of the apartment towards the front. Blaine was sitting at the kitchen table scrolling through his phone.

"Hey," Blaine said, his eyes still on his phone. "Did you see the photo that was pos-..." His words trailed off when he looked up and saw Sam, in basically only a towel, leaning against the doorframe, smirking down at him.

His words got completely caught in his throat, and he was slightly breathless. 

Sam's abs were incredible. But Blaine didn't allow himself to look. Almost as quickly as he stopped talking, he started rambling again.

"Um, anyway, what did you want to do for dinner?" Blaine rushed out. "I could cook up a stir-fry?" 

Sam smiles at him brightly. "Sure. I'm just going to quickly shower and then I'll come and help."

He padded off back down the hallway, and Blaine watched after him. He let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding.

______________________________________________

Brooklyn nine-nine was back on their TV after dinner was finished. Blaine curled up around himself on the end on couch, as Sam had his legs outstretched along the couch. The soles of Sam's feet were gently brushing against Blaine's thigh. Blaine didn't flinch.

They smashed another couple of hours of the show, and before they knew it, they only had 3 episodes left of the first season. Both boys were sleepy, and Blaine was determined to finish the season that night. 

Humoring him, and knowing he would be tired and possibly grumpy the next day, Sam complied. He was too warm and comfortable to move anyway.

His feet were fully rested in Blaine's lap at this point. Sam didn't even really realise it happened until he looked over and saw Blaine basically holding his feet.

Sam smiled. It felt oddly domestic. And it felt like they had known each other for years and years. They were just so comfortable with each other.

Blaine must have felt eyes on him, because he glanced over at Sam. Usually, when making eye contact, Blaine would shy away and quickly look elsewhere. 

Not this time though. He stared right back at Sam, with the Brooklyn nine-nine intro playing in the background.

Even though it was dark in their apartment, and Blaine was sitting a little further away than usual, Sam could see the flush that was slowly creeping onto Blaine's cheeks. They maintained their eye contact for a little while, until Sam realised what episode was playing. 

"This is a good one," Sam murmured. 

"Hmm?" Blaine questioned.

"This episode. It's about an unsolvable case."

"Oh." Blaine said, looking away, towards the TV.

Sam was still looking at Blaine, and Blaine licks his lips, and Sam's eyes move down his face to study said lips. Then, he realised he was being creepy. So he too, turned his focus towards the episode. 

The episode ended, and then the next one ended too, and just like that they had finished season one.

Season two was about to auto play when Sam switched off the TV. 

Blaine grumbled a little bit. "C'mon one more."

Sam laughed at him as he stood up. "Bro, it's already later than the time we usually go to bed. We won't wake up in the morning if we keep watching. We can continue tomorrow." He offered his hand to Blaine to help him up.

Blaine paused for a second, and slightly hesitated. But then he took Sam's hand and allowed Sam to pull him up.

Blaine's hands were warm and comfortable. But Sam only held on for a second, because Blaine was quickly letting go of Sam's hand and folding up the blanket he had draped over himself. 

Then they trudged their way to the bathroom, and their respective bedrooms, and bid each other goodnight.

________________________________________________

Blaine didn't know how he held it together. He acted cool, calm and collected, but he was freaking out.

Why did holding Sam's hand feel... nice? He wasn't gay, he couldn't be. 

But he had never held another man's hand before. 

Hell, he barely even touched another man, skin to skin, apart from the football field. It was really unfamiliar territory.

Growing up in a country town was strange. He didn't know any better when he was younger, but now he was beginning to realise how wrong things were.

He was pushed from a young age to have girlfriends. He had had one, during high school, but it had quickly ended as quickly as it started. That was Blaine's only experience with relationships. He was so much older now, and he had been so young and naïve. But, he hadn't tried to date again.

He didn't even really know why. He hadn't been attracted to his first and only girlfriend. Sure, they had slept together, but only because Blaine felt the pressure of having a girlfriend from his peers and family.

After he had slept with her, they had broken up, and Blaine was done with relationships. 

This is where, he pinpoints, he had become distant with, well, everyone.

He rarely went out with friends anymore. He had been sixteen for God's sake. What sixteen year old doesn't hang out with friends?

That was when Blaine had really focussed on his footy. He knew he needed to get out of the town that was suffocating him.

So, he worked really hard. He improved his game dramatically. And when he turned eighteen, he had been drafted to play in the AFL.

He moved away from home. It was like a weight being taken off his shoulders. He only went back when he really had to.

His parents acted like they were sad whenever he spoke to them. He thought it was a façade though.

They spent his entire childhood ensuring he would become a man. 

"Oh no Blaine, don't touch that doll. That's not for boys." His father grumbled. He had been five.

"Oh no Blaine, you can't buy that T-shirt. It was pink writing on it. Boys can't wear pink." His mother had cooed. He had been eight.

Little things like that, everyday of his life, slowly wore him down. He couldn't do anything, or like anything, that wasn't meant for boys.

And it had really scarred him.

Even now, whenever he does something, or buys something, he has his parents thoughts in the back of his mind.

He has lot's of self doubt, and he supposes that's why he is so quiet and shy at work, or around new people.

So why was being friends with Sam so easy?

Blaine had never been so comfortable with anyone so quickly. Not even Puck.

That was another thing: Puck. Puck had been his only good friend his first year. He had taken him, some random kid from some random country town, and basically saw right through him.

It's not that Blaine didn't want any friends. He just didn't know how to make them. Since he isolated himself as a teenager, his social skills were horrible.

So when Puck had shown interest in being his friend, he took the chance. 

And thank goodness he did. They got on so well, partnering up for everything at training.

That first year, when Blaine still hadn't made his debut, their season had ended prematurely considering they were knocked out of the first round of finals.

Puck had taken Blaine out on a bit of a party rampage. It was their off-season, they had a couple of months to muck around and chill out before focussing on the next year.

Blaine was definitely not a party person. Nor an alcohol person. So that first night they went out, ended with Puck taking home a teary-eyed Blaine, very early. He had sobbed the whole way home, and Puck had his arm around Blaine's shoulder, and he had been quite perplexed. He stayed at Blaine's (and Jack's at the time), sharing Blaine's bed with him.

Blaine had felt so guilty that Puck's night had been cut short because Blaine couldn't control his emotions.

But the next morning, Puck didn't even mention it.

Blaine had tried to stammer out an apology, tried to explain himself, tried to make himself feel less pathetic, but Puck was having none of it. He took Blaine out for breakfast that morning, and since that day, Puck had been quite protective of Blaine.

They had never spoken of that night again. but Blaine noticed a change in Puck towards him.

It felt nice that he had someone looking out for him, inviting him to things, making him feel included.

But it still took a couple of years for Blaine to feel completely comfortable with Puck.

So why had it only taken Sam a month to sneak into his life and make him feel completely at ease?

Blaine rolled over in his bed and groaned into his pillow.

What the hell was happening with him lately?

___________________________________________________________

The rest of the week was much the same; a run with Sam in the morning, work, home, dinner, Netflix. 

And it felt nice to have a routine again.

They were already up to the third season of Brooklyn nine-nine. Blaine had become obsessed. Every time they had completed any housework, Blaine would give Sam his best puppy dog eyes and Sam would roll his eyes with a smile on his face, and turn on the TV.

______________________________________________________

By the time the weekend rolled around, both Sam and Blaine were exhausted from the week. They had gotten up early every day, and gone to bed pretty late considering their current obsession on Netflix.

So, when Saturday morning rolled around, Sam knew he was too tired to get up at their usual time to exercise. Still, he crawled out of bed, and in only his boxers, he padded down the hallway to Blaine's room. He knocked gently once and heard nothing. 

He gently opened the door and peered in. Blaine was still asleep. Just as Sam was about to shut the door, Blaine's alarm went off. Blaine groaned and sat up with a start.

He looked startled seeing Sam in the doorway.

"Are you going for a run?" Sam asked.

Blaine looked perplexed at him. Sam realised how weird it must seem, waiting in Blaine's room for him to wake up, and when he does, asking if he's going for a run. 

"Um, I'm not actually sure. I'm quite sore today." Blaine mumbled.

Sam walked into Blaine's room properly and flopped down on his bed. "Me too. Let's have a lazy day." This time he used his puppy dog eyes on Blaine.

Blaine smiled and pulled the covers back over him. Sam noticed that Blaine kept his eyes on Sam's face. Not daring to look any lower....

Sam jumped on the other side of Blaine and scrambled under the covers too.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Blaine asked, wide-eyed.

"Well, if we're having a lazy day that means we get a sleep in!" Sam grinned. Blaine was still staring at him. Then he realised Blaine might not be comfortable with him in the same bed. His smile faltered and he got up. "Sorry, I can leave if you don't want me in here."

Blaine sat up and reached over to grab Sam's arm gently. "No! I-I mean, you can stay. If you want. You just startled me. Sorry." He quickly dropped Sam's arm.

"You don't need to apologise," Sam said slowly. "Are you sure? I can go back to my own room if you want."

Blaine pulled out the cover, inviting him to hop in. So he did. They both lay on their backs, and started to drift back to sleep. "I'll put on an alarm for 8," Blaine whispered.

"Mhmm," Sam agreed, but he had nearly fallen back to sleep.

___________________________________________

When the alarm went off for a second time that morning, Blaine sat up slightly and stretched awake. He jolted when he remembered Sam was in his bed.

He hoped he didn't snore or drool or kick in his sleep. Blaine had never really shared a bed with anyone before, beside that one time with Puck. But, Blaine didn't count that considering he was drunk that night and then hungover that morning.

Sam was stretching awake too.

"Mornin'," Sam mumbled, flicking his hair to the side and glancing up at Blaine.

"Hi," Blaine replied quietly.

"Sorry again for intruding dude. I'm just glad we didn't go for a run. I needed that extra sleep!" Sam exclaimed in a light tone.

"Yeah, no, I'm the same. I was exhausted," Blaine mumbled.

"I know we said today was a lazy day..." Sam started.

Blaine raised his eyebrow.

"But can we go out for breakfast?" He continued. "I'm starving!!"

Blaine laughed and hopped out of bed. "Yeah let's go. Then we can come back and finish season three."

Sam chuckled and jumped up out of bed and made his way out of the room. Once they were both dressed, they left the apartment and walked to their favourite café that was a ten minute walk from their place. It was... nice.

_______________________________________________

It turned out to be a really nice day. Blaine was pretty adamant on a lazy day, but it didn't take Sam much convincing to get Blaine to agree to head to the beach that afternoon. 

After their breakfast, they did continue Brooklyn nine-nine. After a couple of episodes, Sam pulled out his puppy dog eyes and they headed to the beach.

Considering they didn't want to run, and walking would take them over an hour, Sam decided to drive.

They found a car spot and made their way to the sand where they set out some towels and applied some sun lotion.

Sam was up and in the water pretty quickly. 

Blaine brought out his book and was reading quietly for a while when he felt eyes on him. He glanced around and there was a group of girls who looked like they were in their early twenties looking at him. A couple of them were giggling. 

He quickly looked back down and felt his face flush.

Even though he was in the public eye a fair bit with his job, he still got embarrassed being recognised. Blaine was just a shy person.

The sun was sweltering, so Blaine tucked his book back into his bag and made his way to the ocean. 

He brought his hand up to his face and cupped it around his eyes, while squinting to try and find Sam.

Considering it was a warm day, and they were at one of the most popular beaches in Melbourne, it was quite busy. There were a few people in the water, and Blaine scanned his eyes around trying to pinpoint where Sam was.

Finally, his eyes landed on Sam's body, where he was floating around in the gentle waves a bit deeper out.

Blaine waded into the water, and he shivered a little bit. It was certainly cool. But it felt nice on his warm body. He daintily paddled over to where Sam was.

Sam was completely oblivious to the world. Blaine held his breath and went underwater, with his eyes open, swimming towards Sam. When he was close enough, he reached out and grabbed Sam's ankle. 

Sam struggled for a second and as Blaine went up for air, he heard Sam's infectious laughter as he came back up. 

Once he was up, Sam tackled him and they both went under.

When they came up once again, they were both laughing.

They paddled around for a bit until they both started to get cold. 

They walked back towards their towels and dried off.

"Those girls are checking you out," Sam murmured really quietly, keeping his eyes down as he was drying himself.

Blaine whipped his head up, looking at Sam then turning to look around.

The same group of girls from before were all staring at him. 

"Way to be obvious," Sam said, grinning at him.

"They're not checking me out. They're probably checking you out." Blaine retorted, with his face blushing.

"Nah mate. They're definitely checking you out. I would too if I was them," Sam cheekily said, throwing a wink towards Blaine.

Now Blaine was definitely blushing. Who says that?!

He knows Sam meant it as a joke but he can't help but feel his heart drop. He took a deep breath and tried to joke back but nothing came out.

Sam stepped a little closer and said, "I'm sure girls check you out all the time." 

Blaine shook his head. "They really don't." 

To avoid anymore tension, Blaine started to pack up his stuff. Sam followed suit, and soon enough they were starting their trek back to the car.

It was 3pm, and they didn't have any lunch because of their big breakfast, so they each got a smoothie at a shop that the car was out of front of, and agreed to cook dinner and eat early when they got home.

So that's what they did. They made homemade pizzas, packed full of healthy stuff and just had a chilled night.

Blaine was so comfortable around Sam, he didn't even notice the subtle touches anymore.

And when they fell asleep in front of the TV that night, with Blaine's head on Sam's shoulder, Blaine didn't even freak out when he woke up. Instead, he just went straight back to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!! Please leave kudos/comments if you want more.


	3. Chapter three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some angst, some fluff, some more angst and some more fluff.

Blaine had been thinking a lot. It was almost February. He was already a different person than he was last year. He felt like he had become more confident and just genuinely happy. He hadn't felt this happy and settled, well, ever. So it was a big deal to him.

And he knew it was thanks to his blossoming friendships with Puck and Sam. Mainly Sam though.

Things were just so easy. Sam and him just had a perfect dynamic; they were always making jokes about anything, they got along so well, they didn't fight, like at all. It was good.

So it's ironic that once Blaine was comfortable, happy and settled, things started to go wrong. 

They were home one Saturday afternoon, getting ready to start preparing dinner, when there was a knock at the door.

Blaine frowned. They didn't really get any unannounced visitors, if it was Puck or Trevor they would text prior to coming over. Same with Sam's family. They had visited a few times, and Blaine loved Sam's younger siblings, Stevie and Stacey, as if they were his own. 

Sam's parents were awesome too. His father would come over and catch up with them about their footy over coffee weekly. His mother would make them dinners that they could heat up, if they didn't particularly feel like cooking one night.

It was like he had a new family. And it was so nice to be accepted so quickly into a family that seemed to love and appreciate him for who he was.

So, the shock that went through Blaine's body when he flung open the door, and revealing his own parents standing there was enough to make his blood freeze completely. 

__________________________________________

"I- what are you guys doing here?" Blaine blurted out, not exactly inviting his parents in.

Not that that was a problem for this father, who pushed past and let himself and his wife in.

"Nice to see you too, son," his father bellowed, clapping him on this back, hard.

"Oh yeah, sorry, nice to see you," he greeted them lamely. 

Sam had wandered out of the kitchen and began introducing himself to Blaine's parents and vice versa. But Blaine had zoned out. He noticed his breathing became erratic, and he felt like he was having a panic attack.

"Excuse me," he muttered while ducking past Sam and his parents and making his way to the bathroom.

He shut the door, locked it and slumped his back against it.

He felt tears well up in his eyes, and he tried to blink them away.

He couldn't bloody cry. It was just his parents. He should be happy they were visiting.

But he just wasn't. And when they usually visited, they gave him notice. So he had time to prepare and calm himself. But since he wasn't prepared at all, he didn't know what to do.

Why were they here? How long would they be staying? So many questions were going through his head.

He pulled his phone out of his pocked at sent a quick text to Puck.

Blaine: Parents here. Didn't tell me. Send help.

He then went over to the sink and splashed his face with water, trying to liven himself up a little.

He took a deep breath and looked at himself in the mirror. He looked a little dishevelled, his eyes were a little bit red. But it's okay, he thought, they won't notice. 

When he went back out to the kitchen, his parents were sat down at their table and Sam was making tea and coffee. Sam shot Blaine a look of worry.

Just as Blaine sat down and his father was probably about to interrogate him, Blaine's phone rang. He slipped it out of his pocket again, and saw that it was Puck. Thank goodness.

"I better take this," he quickly said, getting up from the table. He glanced at Sam, hoping to convey 'sorry' and ducked back into his room. He shut the door.

"Hello?" He answered the phone.

"Bro, what the fuck? They just showed up?" Puck hissed.

Puck knew the absolute bare minimum of Blaine's relationship with his parents. But he knew that he was basically traumatised from his childhood, and he knew that Blaine just did not want anything to do with parents. 

He knew Blaine didn't talk to them, yet they tried to force himself into his life.

He knew all of this, he just didn't really know why.

"Yup," Blaine replied quietly, popping the 'p'. "No texts or anything. And they have bags. Hopefully they don't want to stay too long. I honestly don't think I can handle it."

"Wait, have you not spoken to them yet?" Puck asked.

"Um, not really. I was in shock. I had to have a minute to myself. They literally just showed up out of nowhere." Blaine said, his voice slightly rising.

"Shit. Need me to come over?" Puck asked. This was why he got along with Puck so well. He just had absolutely no hesitation in helping his friends.

"Ahh, I'm not sure. Sam's out there chatting to them now. I haven't told Sam anything at all. He probably thinks I'm a freak for just ditching." Blaine replied.

"I'm on my way right now by the way," Puck said, and Blaine heard a car door slam. "Sam won't think you're a freak. He's a good guy. Honestly, he'll probably be worried about you. Go back out there. I won't be long. Pretend you're surprised when I get there."

"Okay," Blaine said. "Thanks Puck." 

"Don't mention it, pal."

Blaine hung up, took a deep breath and left his room to face the music. 

Sam had joined his parents at the table and they were chatting away.

He barely listened. They would occasionally ask him a question, but Blaine wasn't interested.

His father was in the middle of some story about the farm they lived on when Blaine interrupted.

"How long are you staying for?" He asked abruptly. 

Everyone paused for a second. Sam raised an eyebrow at Blaine. 

"Wow Blaine," his mother fake laughed. "Are you trying to kick us out already?"

Blaine bit his tongue from retorting something he would regret.

"No. This was just such a surprise. I was just wondering." Blaine responded.

"We're just here for the night. We have a meeting in town tomorrow morning so we thought it would be easier to just stay here the night instead of renting a hotel," his mother said.

"You could have at least told me," Blaine muttered, when the front door burst open.

Puck was grinning from ear to ear at Sam and Blaine, and his smile tightened when he saw Blaine's parents sitting there. 

"Puck!!!" Sam exclaimed. "What are you doing here?" 

Puck shut the front door and joined the others in the kitchen area.

"Was just in the area, thought I'd pop in to see my favourite boys." Puck said clapping Sam and Blaine on their backs. "I didn't realise you had company. Sorry." He didn't sound sorry though.

Puck had met his parents once, a while ago. It was a random time they had come to visit, and they had wanted to see where Blaine played. So he had taken them down to the club, and Puck had been there. He had known about Blaine's relationship with his parents, or lack thereof, so whilst being polite, he was also pretty cold towards them.

"Noah," his mother greeted. "Nice to see you again. So this is a surprise visit?"

Puck nodded.

"Well," his mother turned back to Blaine. "Are you going to grill Puck for surprising you? Like you did to your own parents?"

Blaine felt frozen. He couldn't deal with this interrogation or the guilt. He didn't even know why he felt guilty.

Puck smiled a fake sweet smile. "No need, Blainey. I'm just going to be here for a minute."

Blaine could feel his father's eyes on him. But he refused to look back at him.

"We might put our bags away, and head out to dinner," Blaine's father said slowly. "We will be out of your hair in the morning."

Blaine was holding in a breath. His father hadn't even put up a fight. Usually Blaine had to have a full argument with him until he saw something from Blaine's point of view.

Sam, looking a bit awkward after the whole ordeal, offered to carry their bags to the study, where a sofa couch was. 

"Thanks Sam," his mother said, smiling warmly. "How lovely of you."

His parents bid their goodbyes and reassured them that they'd be back after their dinner.

It was quiet for a moment. Then Puck wrapped Blaine in an extremely tight hug. 

"Are you okay?" He asked, sounding very concerned.

Blaine wiped a tear from his eye and nodded.

He heard Sam walk back into the room and stop in his tracks.

"Err, did I miss something?" Sam asked, as Blaine pulled away from his hug with Puck. "Was that really awkward for anyone else, or just me?"

"Um, yeah everyone Sam. Do you mind giving us a sec?" Puck asked, shooting daggers towards Sam.

"Oh! Sure." And just like that Sam was out of the room.

"You know you could just kick them out. Tell them to go find a hotel," Puck said.

"I know I can, and I should, but I just feel so rude and guilty doing that."

"You're not the one who should feel rude or guilty," Puck said slowly. "They're the rude ones. Who just shows up to someone's house without an invite expecting to stay the night? They should feel guilty for putting you in an awkward situation."

"I- I know," Blaine stammered out lamely. "They're just staying for one night though. I think I'll be able to manage. Thanks for coming over though. I appreciate it."

"Anything for you bud," Puck said, "now, will you be okay for the rest of the night?"

"Yeah, I should be fine now."

"Perfect." Puck said.

Blaine was just about to ask what his plans were for the rest of the night when Puck yelled, "Sam! Get in here!!" 

Blaine heard Sam's door open and he stumbled back into the room.

"Wanna go get something for dinner?" Puck asked both the boys.

_____________________________________

Sam was super confused.

It was a normal day, and as soon as Blaine's parents arrived, chaos ensued.

Blaine had never even mentioned his parents to him. Not once. The closest they got was talking about Blaine growing up on a farm. Oh and he knew Blaine had an older brother. That was it.

So Sam had been shocked when they had randomly rocked up to their place. But no one was more shocked than Blaine.

When he ducked out as soon as they got there, Sam noticed he had gone pale, and he thought Blaine was having a heart attack.

Sam didn't know what to do, so after introducing himself he offered Blaine's parents some coffee and from there they made small talk.

When Blaine had come back into the room, he was still pale and his eyes were red, like he'd been crying.

Then Puck had burst through the door. Everyone had been super passive aggressive, and Sam was confused.

After Blaine's parents left, Blaine, Sam and Puck had gone out for dinner. Blaine seemed to relax, and before Sam knew it, Blaine was back to himself.

Puck had walked them back home and went upstairs with them. Blaine's parents weren't back yet.

It wasn't really late, but Blaine was tired, so Puck dragged him to his bedroom and tucked him in.

When Puck returned to the living room, he gave Sam a look.

It was silent for a minute.

"What the hell just happened?" Sam asked, breaking the quiet aura of the room.

Puck sighs. "It's not really my place to tell bro. But Blaine may be shaky for a couple of days. His parents really bring out the anxiety in him. Look after him." 

"Yeah, of course I will. I'm just confused. I've seen nervous, anxious, quiet Blaine, but I've never seen him like... that," Sam retorted.

"They really stress him out. He does not get along with them. That's why I'm glad he's in bed before they get home. Hopefully they leave early tomorrow, or he's at least not in the house when they're up and about. Will you make sure he'll be okay?" Puck asked.

"Jesus. I didn't realise it was this bad. I thought it was strange he never mentioned his family. I'll make sure he's okay." Sam promised.

Puck nodded and made his way towards the front door, saying, "well, I'll be off then. I'll see you Monday bro?"

"Yeah, for sure." Sam replied. Just as Puck was about to leave Sam stopped him.

"Wait Puck!" He exclaimed, trying to keep his voice down as Blaine could be asleep by now. "You didn't just pop in, did you? You knew they were here. You came to help Blaine."

Puck shrugged. "He shot me a text informing me of the situation, I got here as soon as I could. He's told me about things. I sort of knew what to do as we've been down a similar road before."

Sam nodded in understanding. "You're a good friend, Puckerman."

"Hell yeah I am," Puck grinned. "See you later, bud."

Sam didn't know what to do now. Did he wait up for Blaine's parents to get home? Did he go to his own room and leave them to lock up and what not? Sam was really unsure.

He decided to chuck on Netflix for a bit and wait up. If they didn't take too long he would bid them goodnight. Otherwise, he's just go to bed.

Not long after Sam was into an episode of Breaking Bad, the door rattled. Blaine's parents walked in. They had a quick chat, and then showed themselves to their room. 

They didn't even ask where Blaine was.

Sam shut off the TV and went to bed. He couldn't concentrate on the stupid show anyway. He wanted to sneak into Blaine's room to see if he was okay, but he didn't know if he was asleep or not. 

Instead, he decided to shoot him a quick text.

Sam: Hope ur ok bro. 

He was going to add more, but decided against it. Short and sweet.

And then he went to sleep.

______________________________________

When Sam woke up, it was 5am. 

Sundays were Sam and Blaine's unofficial 'sleep in day,' where they wouldn't go for a run so early in the morning. When Sam checked his phone though, there was a reply from Blaine. From two minutes ago.

Blaine: I'm good, thanks Sammy.

Sam's heart fluttered at the nickname. Usually Stevie and Stacey would call him Sammy, but hearing it from Blaine, even through text, was really sweet.

Sam decided to get out of bed and sneak down to Blaine's room. The study door was shut, so Sam assumed that Blaine's parents were still in there. It was 5am, after all. 

He shut his door, for good measure, and creeped down the hallway to Blaine's room. He knocked twice, gently, and then let himself in.

Blaine was sitting up when Sam's eyes readjusted to the darkness.

"Sam?" Blaine whispered into the darkness.

Sam crept over towards Blaine's bed.

"Mind if I join you?" Sam asked.

"Uh, s-sure." Blaine stuttered out.

Sam hopped under the covers, and snuggled in.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked, after a minute of silence.

"Yeah Sam, I'm good. Thank you though," Blaine replied. "Listen, I can explain. It's jus-"

Sam cut him off. "You don't need to explain. I mean, you can if you want. But you don't have to. Or if you need time, you know where I live. Literally,"

Blaine smiled one of his rare smiles, where his eyes crinkle around the edges.

"Thanks Sam."

"Don't mention it dude," Sam replied. "Now, it's a sleep in day. So why are we awake at 5am? Back to sleep for us." 

Blaine slid down the bed and they were facing each other for a second. Then Blaine turned his back to Sam, and they both went back to sleep.

________________________________________

It was the day of the inaugural fitness testing. It happened every year, and Blaine was the feeling the most prepared he'd ever been.

They had to do a series of tests, with the dreaded being the beep test and skinfolds. Blaine wasn't the best with cardio, he preferred lifting weights, but his daily run with Sam had definitely helped him improve. It was sort of a good thing both boys were so competitive. They definitely pushed each other.

However, they didn't want to push their bodies too much, and knowing they were probably going to get their asses kicked at the training session, Blaine and Sam had decided the night before to have a sleep in to allow themselves to rest.

So they made their way to work together. It was nice.

Blaine was very grateful for Puck and Sam's actions over the weekend. He had been a mess, and they had both helped him.

He hadn't exactly explained to Sam what was wrong, but Sam said to take his time. 

When they had woken up after going back to sleep, it was 9am. And his parents had gone, leaving only a text from his mother that read 'Thanks for having us sweetie.' 

Blaine had rolled his eyes.

But it was now a new day, and he needed to concentrate. 

He needed good results if he was going to get a starting position, and if he wanted to play every game through the year.

He was apprehensive that his parents visit was going to throw him off his game, and he didn't need the extra anxiety right at that moment, so he tried to switch off that side of his brain completely.

And it was tough. Blaine found that his mind kept wandering, thinking about his parents barging in again. Every time he noticed he was thinking of them, he would shake himself out of it and focus on whatever task was at hand.

_____________________________________________

Completing the time trials at a quick rate could be challenging for some, but this is what Blaine had been training all summer for. It was a breeze for him.

"Well done Blaine," Coach commented, as Blaine passed the finish line first for the 2km time trial first. "I know you've been training hard. Go get some rest before the next test."

Slowing to a halt, Blaine was puffing. "Thanks, Coach," he said, making his way to grab a drink of water.

He was proud of himself. He stayed focussed, and he completed the trial at a good time. 

Today was going to be a good day.

___________________________________________

It was a good day. By the end of it, Blaine was exhausted. All the boys had worked super hard, and they were relieved earlier than expected.

On the walk home, Sam groaned.

"Dude, my legs are killing me! How are you even walking?"

Blaine laughed in response.

"I'm used to it, I guess?" 

Sam knocked his shoulder into Blaine's. "You know, I think we deserve take out tonight. I mean, we worked pretty bloody hard today."

Blaine rolled his eyes, but he had a smile on his face. "Yeah sure, I think we deserve a night off cooking."

_______________________________________

As they were getting ready for bed, Blaine had a small panic attack.

Sam didn't notice anything was wrong at first.

He was in the kitchen getting a glass of water whilst Blaine was brushing his teeth. He walked back down the hallway, humming softly. 

Sam was just about to bid goodnight to Blaine when he heard sniffling. 

The bathroom door was open, so Sam peeked his head in. Blaine was facing his way, leaning against the sink, tears streaming down his face. 

As Sam got closer to him, he could hear that Blaine's breathing was loud and erratic. 

"Woah, woah, woah, Blaine?" Sam said, worryingly. "Are you okay? What's up?"

Blaine took a deep breath, and it came out shuddered.

Sam gestured for Blaine to hug him, and he hesitated for a second.

But then he leaned forward and allowed Sam to wrap his arms around him, tight.

He sobbed out loud, and Sam just gently patted his back, trying to get his breathing under control and trying to get him to calm down.

They stood there for a while, well after Blaine stopped crying, just hugging. 

When Blaine pulled away, eventually, he muttered, "sorry."

"What for?" Sam asked, confused.

"For having a meltdown for no reason at all." Blaine answered, turning around and splashing his face with cool water.

"You don't need to apologize, bro. It's good to have a cry sometimes," Sam started. "But I feel like it wasn't for no reason. You just had a lot of pressure on you, what with your parents showing up unexpectedly the day before all the fitness testing. It's okay to ask for help."

Blaine nodded. Sam thought he wasn't going to say anything in response. But Blaine surprised him.

"I'm just so overwhelmed right now. I barely slept a wink last night. I had to try so hard to focus at work today. My mind is just all over the place. I don't know what to do. I feel like I'm going to barely sleep again tonight." 

Sam was slightly surprised that Blaine shared this much. Blaine opened his mouth to say more.

"Will you sl-..." Blaine trailed off as his phone rang. It was Puck.

"Answer it," Sam encouraged. "We can finish this lil talk after."

Blaine nodded and answered the call. Sam motioned that he was leaving for a second.

"Hey Puck," Blaine answered.

"Hey dude," Puck replied. "How are you? I didn't really get to see you much today. And whenever you were free, your new best friend Sam was always with you."

Blaine felt himself blush and he was momentarily grateful Sam left the room.

"Not true," he bantered back. "But I'm okay, thanks. Sam and I have just had a chilled night. I needed it after the stress of the last 3 days."

"Yeah, no shit," Puck replied. "Well, that's good to hear. I just wanted to check in. You know I'm always a phone call away, yes?"

"Yeah, of course I do. Thanks Puck," Blaine answered.

"Anytime, my boy. Say hi to Sammy for me! I'll see you guys Wednesday," Puck ended in a cheerful tone.

"Bye, Puck. Thanks again." Blaine said, ending the call.

Since it was the fitness testing that day, they were allowed the following day off, to recover and what not. Blaine was looking forward to a lazy day to sulk around.

As he left the bathroom, finally, in search of Sam, he found him in the living room. 

Sam had set up all their blankets and pillows on the sofa couch, which he had extended to make a bed.

"Sam?" Blaine asked.

"Since you can't sleep, I thought we could chill out here for a bit. I'll chuck on a movie, hopefully it will get you in the mood." Sam replied. He realised what he'd said after he said it. They both blushed.

"I definitely did not mean it like that," Sam said after a pause. Then they both laughed.

Sam ducked away, still blushing to pop some popcorn and they got comfortable with Netflix on.

"How was Puck?" Sam asked gently. 

"Yeah he was good. He just wanted to check up on me and make sure I was alright," Blaine replied.

Sam hummed. "Are you?"

Blaine looked at him with a confused look. "Am I what?"

"Are you alright?" Sam asked, with concern on his face.

"Yeah- well, no. But I will be. With friends like you and Puck how can I not be alright?" Blaine replied.

Sam's grin lit up his face, and he leaned in to hug Blaine. Then, he began their Brooklyn nine-nine marathon.

After a little while, Blaine said, "if you need to sleep that's fine Sam. You had a big day."

Sam pulled a face at Blaine. "I'm good. I could stay up all night. I used to be a night owl, until you turned me into an early bird," Sam teased, wiggling his eyebrows at Blaine to make him laugh.

And it worked. Sam loved Blaine's laugh.

They watched Brooklyn nine-nine for hours. When Sam checked the time, it was nearly 4am. And they had been joking around and laughing together the whole time.

It made Sam feel good that he could chat with Blaine and distract him a bit from what was going on in his head.

Eventually, Sam began to grow sleepy. He tried to keep his eyes open, but they would slowly shut and he honestly had no control over them. 

When Blaine grew sleepy, he asked Sam if it was okay if he turned off the TV. When he didn't get a response, he turned to look at Sam, who was fast asleep. 

Blaine smiled to himself. He switched the TV off and settled down to sleep.

But now, he couldn't sleep. His mind was racing a million kilometres per second.

He was sharing a bed with Sam Evans. Again. Why was this becoming a reoccurring event?

Why did Sam always know how to make him feel better?

Why did Sam's hugs send butterflies straight to Blaine's stomach?

Why did Sam's subtle touches, which were happening more often, affect him so much in a positive light?

He feigned nonchalance. He didn't want to accept the real reason, because what would that mean?

What would being gay mean?

He played a professional sport at an elite level. 

There was no other gay players. Well, none that he knew of.

He couldn't be having these gay thoughts with Sam right next to him.

He felt guilty for bringing Sam into this. Would Sam even want to be associated with someone who is having these thoughts, let alone someone who is gay?

That's not fair, Blaine thought to himself. Sam was a very accepting person. Obviously he wouldn't care... unless he had a similar upbringing to Blaine.

He turned his back to Sam and willed himself to finally fall asleep.

___________________________________

When Blaine awoke the first time, he still felt very tired. He blinked around the room, which was still dark.

He also felt a certain someone, spooning him from behind. Not thinking anything of it, he drifted back to sleep.

__________________________________

When he awoke the first time, he felt very well rested. The light from outside was streaming in, and he could tell it was well into the middle of the day.

Sam was still spooning him, but he was also in the midst of waking up. When he realised he was holding Blaine's waist, he jolted back.

"Blaine! I'm so sorry," he begun.

Blaine cut him off before he could finish.

"It's fine, Sam. It was.... nice." Blaine felt awkward saying it, but he didn't want Sam to feel awkward.

Sam blinked at him, then a slow, lazy smile spread across his face.

"You like to be cuddled!" Sam exclaimed.

Blaine rolled his eyes and shushed him. 

"Nuh-uh. I value this newfound information. I love giving cuddles, obviously, and you love getting them! It's a win-win!" 

Blaine grew shy but smiled nonetheless. He pulled out his phone to check the time, and saw that it was 12.30pm. 

"Holy shit, we really slept in." Blaine noted.

"Hell yeah we did," Sam said, leaning over for a fist bump. "You deserved a good sleep in bro. Now what's for breakfast? Well, lunch? Because I am starving."

Blaine grinned at Sam's rambling and they decided to go for a walk to get some food.

___________________________________

Sam didn't know where everything had gone so... right?

Blaine was very comfortable around him. He wasn't shying away from banter, jokes or touches.

Puck had said it had taken ages for Blaine to be comfortable around him. 

Sam wondered why he was different. Why was he having a big impact on Blaine?

Don't get him wrong, he's super happy Blaine has responded well. But why?

Sam decided to ask. "How come you're so comfortable around me?" He blurted out.

Blaine's eyes widened and he coughed into his hand. "Wh-what do you mean?"

"I just- sorry, I didn't mean to ambush you like that. I just mean, we get on well yeah? We're proper bros? And you just seem kind of, well, shy, to everyone else." Sam queried.

"I am shy. Especially around new people," Blaine replied.

"And that's fine!" Sam said. "I was just wondering why. But it's okay. You don't have to answer. My brain sometimes talks before it thinks."

Blaine took a deep breath.

"I'm such a socially awkward person. I grew up with virtually no friends, mind you it was basically my own fault, but still. Apart from Puck, you were the first person to really make an effort in my life." Blaine blurted out.

"Sometimes I just feel like I don't belong with those other guys. I mean, Puck always invites me to stuff, and he's great about it, but the whole team is friends with him. I think with you, you are always by my side. I just feel so comfortable around you because I- well, I trusted you so quickly."

Sam smiles his giant goofy smile at him. "Naw, love you Blainey!!!" He exclaims, leaning forward and planting a sloppy kiss on Blaine's cheek.

Immediately Blaine blushed. Sam just kissed his cheek!!

Blaine had never really been a person big on affection, given his lack of relationships in his life.

He didn't know how to react when people touched him, let alone kissed him!

He just smiled a small smile and went back to being an awkward dork. 

______________________________________

Blaine and Sam walked out of lunch in the communal area the next afternoon, and were stopped by the social media manager, Quinn.

"Hey guys!" She exclaimed. "We need a couple of videos for the Instagram. About being roommates. Are you in?"

Sam looked at Blaine, telling him with his eyes that it was Blaine's decision.

Feeling comfortable with Sam and knowing how nice Quinn was, he nodded. "Sure."

"Perfect! I spoke to your coaches so it's all good if we do it now." Quinn explained, flipping her blonde hair. "Would that be okay?"

The boys nodded. Social media was a massive part of football these days. They often had days dedicated to providing content for the fans.

They went to one of the recording rooms and sat down. Quinn had her camera set up, ready to go.

"Okay, so for this first video, it's pretty simple," Quinn said, handing the boys two pieces of paper each. One piece had a picture of Sam, and the other had a picture of Blaine. "Basically, I'll just ask a question, and you hold up the photo of whom it relates to more. Got it?"

"Yep!" Sam said excitedly. "Bring it on."

Blaine laughed at him.

"Okay great. So when I say go, introduce yourselves and explain how you're roommates. Then I'll ask the questions," Quinn instructed.

The boys nodded.

Quinn began recording.

"Hey everyone! I'm Sam Evans and this is Blaine Anderson and we're from Collingwood Football club." Sam started.

"We've recently moved in together and we are gonna answer some questions for you!" Blaine continued. 

Quinn nodded from behind the camera.

"Who's the messiest?" She asked.

Both boys thought about it for a second, then they both held up their picture of Sam at the same time. 

They laughed together.

"For two young lads we're actually pretty clean," Blaine explained. "I actually had to think about that."

"I only chose me because Blaine at least makes his bed every morning. I don't."

They grin at each other.

"Who wakes up earlier?" Quinn asked.

They both immediately hold up Blaine's picture.

"Although I am getting better!! We go for runs some mornings!" Sam exclaimed.

"He's right, he is getting better." Blaine agreed.

"Who cooks better food?" Quinn continued.

They both thought about it for a second, then Sam held up Blaine's picture and Blaine held up Sam's. They looked at each others and burst out laughing.

"We actually usually cook together. I'm pretty hopeless at it, so it's helpful having Sam there." Blaine explained.

"He is not hopeless at it! I am!" Sam exclaimed. He turned to face Blaine. "You are a much better cook, trust me."

"I think we're just going to have to agree to disagree here," Blaine said, smiling.

Quinn rolled her eyes from behind the camera, but she was smiling.

"Okay last question. Who is always running late?"

Sam hesitates, then he holds up the picture of himself.

Blaine, on the other hand, holds both their pictures up.

"We go everywhere together, so if one of us is running late, both of us are running late," Blaine explained.

Sam burst out into laughter. "So true," he muttered, and lifted Blaine's photo to join his.

Once they settled down, Quinn stopped recording. "We just have to quickly film an outro now. Just say thanks for watching or something." 

She started recording again.

"Thanks for watching! We hope you learnt a little bit about us," Blaine stated.

"Go pies!!" Sam added.

Quinn grabbed the camera and starting flicking through the footage.

"That was perfect. Thanks guys. You're awfully domestic," Quinn observed, still looking down at her camera.

Blaine felt himself blush slightly.

"Okay! Onto the next video!"

______________________________________

They had recorded two more videos that afternoon, then Sam and Blaine had been dismissed home.

They wandered home chatting about the days events.

"You actually are a better cook than me, you know?" Sam said.

Blaine groaned. "We've already been through this several times. I am not." 

"But you are!" Sam exclaimed.

"Let's just call it even okay? We're as bad as each other." Blaine said.

"We're as good as each other!" Sam corrected, grinning widely. "You should learn to take a compliment though. I'm not lying. You really are a good cook."

Blaine wasn't expecting that. "Thanks, Sammy," he said quietly.

As they made their way home, it was still early evening, so they chucked on some Netflix and just chilled out.

They had a really relaxed night, and Blaine just felt so happy and at home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave kudos and comments if you want more!!

**Author's Note:**

> Shall I continue????? Comment below and let me know if you enjoyed it!


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